NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - An unseasonably early-winterstorm brought snow, rain and dangerous winds to the U.S.Northeast, plunging many residents of the most populous regionof the country back into darkness just as they were recoveringfrom Superstorm Sandy.

The storm iced roads and hit transit systems, setting thestage for a difficult Thursday morning commute and bringingfresh misery to those whose lives had been disrupted by themassive storm that smashed ashore on Oct. 29 with historicflooding.

Sandy's death toll in the United States and Canada reached121 after New York authorities on Wednesday reported anotherdeath linked to the storm, in the hard-hit coastal neighborhoodof Rockaway that bore the brunt of a storm surge.

More than 60,000 homes and businesses in a band stretchingfrom the Carolinas to New York lost power, joining the more than640,000 customers that remained in the dark after one of thebiggest and costliest storms ever to hit the United States.

Freezing temperatures were a fresh worry for residents leftwithout power. New York distributed space heaters and blanketsto residents without heat or power and opened shelters to thosein need of a warm place to sleep.

After enduring a week without electricity or running waterin her Mendham, New Jersey, home, Kimberly Gavagan said she andher family are now staying with friends that have power.

"The idea of getting several inches of snow on top of thisis unbearable," Gavagan said. "We are going to be shoveling snowand going into a cold house."

The low-pressure weather system coming from the southbrought wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour (97 kph) and droppedwhat was expect to be 3 inches to 5 inches (8-13 cm) of snow onNew York City, with up to twice that much hitting northernsuburbs, the National Weather Service said.

But local utilities warned that winds and heavy, wet snow,which threatened to down trees and power lines, had hinderedtheir efforts to restore power.

"I could see us actually moving backwards, and people whohad regained power losing power again," warned New JerseyGovernor Chris Christie.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with the governors of NewYork and New Jersey by telephone on Wednesday, with thediscussions focused on fuel shortages in the storm-hit regionand what to do about the thousands whose homes were destroyed,according to a White House official.

EVACUATIONS AND DISRUPTIONS

New York and New Jersey evacuated the most vulnerablecoastal areas ahead of the storm, which was forecast to bring ahigh tide about 2 feet (60 cm) above normal by early Thursday.

New York City officials urged residents whose homes havebeen flooded by Sandy to relocate to the homes of friends orfamily members or to go to city shelters.

But some in the region were unwilling or unable to leavetheir homes. That included Christine Jones, a 73-year-oldresident of coastal Far Rockaway in the borough of Queens whosaid that she and many of her neighbors planned to stay in theircold, dark apartments.

"They're scared they're going to be robbed," said Jones,whose evacuation options were limited since her 1999 Buick wasflooded by Sandy's storm surge. "The teen-age boys ... they tryto break in."

Commuter bus and train services had been disrupted by thestorm, with the Long Island Rail Road briefly shutting down alloperations to the city's eastern suburbs on Wednesday night.

All of the region's major airports experienced canceledflights and delays on Wednesday due to the storm, and gasolineremained in short supply, though four companies told the UnitedStates they intended to take advantage of a rare waiver allowingthem to use foreign-flagged ships to transport oil products tothe storm-hit region.

Across the region, residents waited for a return of powerand warmth.

Diane Reinhardt, a 64-year-old retired teacher, said she hadtraveled from her home in Brooklyn to the south shore of LongIsland to check on her 93-year-old mother, whose home has beenwithout power since Sandy hit more than a week ago.

"They're just at wit's end," Reinhardt said of her motherand brother. "They feel like they're never going to get powerback and it's never going to get warm again."